Most Famous Murals Around the World by Well-Known Graffiti Artists

Murals blend perfectly with the architectural elements of a space like a building or a wall and are very harmoniously incorporated with the surroundings. Murals are being created in many renowned places across the world and reflect the works of famous graffiti artists.

While most of the murals are actually a form of art that is done illicitly and later removed or erased by the authorities; some have been done with permission from the authorities. In any case, they reflect the art and culture of the region while sometimes they may be done just a measure of voicing some burning issues. The graffiti art movement, which started in the early 1960s, has introduced some of the best street artists to the world. Here are some of the best murals by world famous graffiti artists.

Etnias

Etnias is the Spanish word for Ethnicities. This famous mural by Eduardo Kobra, who is one of the most famous graffiti artist in word, was created for the 2016 Rio Olympics and it took the artist almost 2 months to complete it. Located in Port District in Rio de Janeiro, the work depicts five faces from five continents and has also found place in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world’s largest graffiti art (at the time) at 51 feet height and 560 feet width. The artist used about 500 gallons of paint and 3,500 cans of spray paint to complete the mural.

The Purple Shall Govern

This famous Nelson Mandela Mural was painted by Shepard Fairey in 2014 in Juta Street in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela and the 25th anniversary of the anti-apartheid Purple Rain Protest of 1989. During the protests, thousands of protesters were sprayed with purple dye by the police with an intention to later identify the protesters and arrest them. The mural is the first work of Farley in Africa who is famous the world over for his Barack Obama “Hope” poster.

Tuttomondo

Tuttomondo means ‘All World’ in Italian. The mural was painted by renowned American artist Keith Haring on a convent of church of St, Anthony Abbot in Italy which was semi-buried during the WW II bombings. The mural reflects a future in which unity and peace are the dominant ideals. It depicts thirty dynamic figures of great vitality that symbolize peace and harmony in the world. Tuttomondo was painted in 1989 and known as the largest mural in Europe and the last work done by Haring who died the following year.

Facebook Murals

This mural is rightly painted at the headquarters of Facebook in Palo Alto, California. The work of artist David Choe was done in 2005 after the first president of Facebook Sean Parker asked Choe to decorate the headquarters in the Silicon Valley with murals. Parker, who was also a great fan of Choe, offered him to choose between $60,000 and the same value in company stocks and also advised Choe to pick the latter. Choe took the stocks which were worth $200 million in 2012. The murals were graphic, sexual and explicit like most of his works. In 2017 again, Mark Zuckerberg again approached Choe to paint murals for their next office.

My God, Help Me Survive This Deadly Love

This art mural was located on the famous Berlin Wall and was painted by Dmitri Vrubel in the year 1990. It reflects a moment captured during the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of German Democratic Republic and depicts a kiss between communist leaders Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union and Erich Honecker of East Germany. Known as the Fraternal Kiss, it is one of the most famous graffiti paintings in the world which has also inspired some of the derivative works including the Make Everything Great Again mural of 2016 in which Russian President Vladimir Putin and American President Donald Trump are depicted in a similar pose.

Flower Thrower

Flower Thrower is the work of the most renowned graffiti artist Bansky who has undoubtedly made street art very popular. Flower Thrower is a stencil illustration on a wall in Jerusalem and the work depicts a man involved in the riots armed with a bouquet of flowers in the place of a fire bomb. By substituting flowers that represent love and peace with a bomb that reflects war, Bansky perfectly conveyed the message of peace and hope in a region that is marred by riots and warfare. It is one of the most famous graffiti works that has been reproduced many times on T-shirts and in prints.

The Balloon Girl

The Ballon Girl is the most famous graffiti art ever created by the most famous Bansky. The art depicts a young girl whose hair and dress are blowing forward by the wind while she is stretching her hand to catch the string of the heart-shaped balloon that is blown away. The image has been used numerous times on prints, t-shirts, tattoos and even Justin Bieber got one tattoo based on this image. It was painted on the wall of a shop in East London and was removed and sold for £500,000 in 2014. A print of the painting was also auctioned at £56,250. In a poll conducted by Samsung in 2017, The Balloon Girl was voted by more than 2,000 people as the favourite work of the nation.